No Man's Legacy
by 19683dw
Summary: Naruto is just another orphan, rather than the descendant of any famous figure within Konoha. A darker, more realistic presentation of the militaristic shinobi world to be developed.


A/N: This is just a pre-cursor to a possible story I have been thinking about writing. If I decide to do so, much would be subject to change/be re-written. The core concept is that Naruto is not the child of the Yondaime, who himself was a bit less optimistic. The shinobi world is meant to be considered a bit darker, perhaps more realistic. I'm quite interested in the possibility of critique and opinions as to whether or not I should even write this story. so please let me know.

Disclaimer: I have no ownership, nor any sort of right relating to the intellectual property of Naruto.

~

Namikaze Minato sat awaiting the arrival of his scheduled appointment with his predecessor. As he waited, thoughts of his day weighed heavily on his mind. The previous evening had been a long one, as the village celebrated his taking claim to the title of Yondaime Hokage. He had done so resolutely, but with some reluctance. He felt guilty, as he considered this reluctance. There were numerous members of Konoha's miltary force that held the dream of holding his position, members now under his command. And yet this had never been his dream. His desires had always been to become strong enough to protect those precious to him. No more, no less. On two occasions, he had proven incapable of doing so. His students, Rin and Obito, had both fallen with him in no position to protect them. The only two others he held this deep desire to protect were his remaining student, Kakashi, and his sensei, Jiraiya. He had failed to protect a full half of those he truly desired to.

And then, in spite of this, they asked him to take on this same protective responsibility in regards to the whole village. They had good reason to make such request. It was true that the Sandaime was clearly growing older. While he was still nearly in peak form, there was no certainty how long this would last. Hiruzen had determined, along with his three closest advisors (Homura, Koharu, and the mildly more estranged Danzo), that it would be better for him to take the role sooner than later. They had hoped he would be able to transition more easily with Hiruzen in good position to advise for years to come. And regardless, he had already surpassed Hiruzen in ability as a fighter. He was the only person in the village who could claim such, as neither his sensei Jiraiya, nor his teammates Tsunade or Orochimaru (the fifth, sixth, and fourth strongest ninja Konoha held to offer respectively) could match the Sandaime in all out combat. Danzo, the third strongest in the village, was close to Hiruzen in ability, but also aging.

Further, he was incredibly popular throughout the village. He was a war hero that had successfully turned the tides of the war with Iwa (whose shinobi were perhaps not quite of the same quality as Konoha's, but far more numerous) in time to save the village and bring about peace. His efforts as ambassador had successfully concluded a treaty with Suna, enough to bolster Konoha's position to prevent Kumo from joining in on Iwa's side in exchange for eventual support against Kiri. To the shinobi of his village, he was a hero that had prevented the expansion of the nightmare that was war. To the civilians, he was a hero that had saved them all. With this in mind, they had settled resolutely that he was the strongest candidate. And so, he had committed himself. He would give his all in an attempt to protect not only those dear to him, but the villagers as well. He only hoped that he would prove worthy of this position, and that he would not fail again to protect those he committed to.

*Knock*

The knock at the door pulled him out of these thoughts. It appeared Hiruzen, and his first official briefing as Hokage, had arrived.

"Please come in." He called. The door opened, and Sarutobi Hiruzen casually took a chair in front of his desk.

"Welcome, Hokage-sama," Minato greeted. He noted the serious look upon his predecessors face.

"Please, you may call me either Hiruzen or Sarutobi-san. You are Hokage-sama now." He replied.

"You will always be Hokage-sama as well, Hiruzen. But informally, I will respect your request. Now, shall we begin?"

"Very well. I have one further request first. Have you decided upon who you intend to hold as your advisors?"

"I've mostly settled. I intend of course to ask you, as well as Sensei. With his regular absences, I'll also likely rely upon Tsunade in his stead. Finally, I'll likely divert to Orochimaru for an alternative opinion on matters less pleasant."

"Indeed, Orochimaru will fill such role well. Of my students, he is the one who most took advantage of Danzo's offers of additional training. That in mind, I would encourage you to welcome Danzo as well. Why I often disagree with his methods, on more than one occasion he has proven correct in times of war, and we would not likely have survived without his input."

"I'll consider it. Even if this is true, you know I have distaste for him."

"Of course." Hiruzen concluded that section of our discussion, satisfied that he had convinced Minato to at least consider it. "Before we continue, I'll have to ask that you direct your ANBU guards out, at least for the moment."

Minato made a subtle motion out of Hiruzen's line of sight behind the desk, directing them to leave the two Hokage's alone. He did this in a manner Hiruzen could not observe directly, as each Hokage had their own unique code for communication with his guards.

"It is done. You may begin."

With that began a discussion that would last numerous hours, Minato's face turning steadily further and further into a grimace. His discoveries about the village that night (including its history, its numerous past less than savory acts, and the many more that yet continued) were both shocking and gruesome. While he had known things wouldn't be simple or pleasant by any means, he had been optimistic considering Konoha's reputation as the most upstanding of the Hidden Villages. This evening would fully dissuade him of the notion that Konoha was superior to any of the others on a moral scale. Nonetheless, he accepted the necessity of each revelation as Hiruzen presented them to him. Some he planned to change, some he planned to end, but others (he was displeased discover) would need to be taken further. There were numerous proposals on future operations to consider as well.

"And I have one last revelation. I held it for last as it remains one of my deepest regrets. Two decades ago, I had an argument with Danzo. Against my better judgment, he convinced my former teammates against me and I conceded to his request. A little girl had arrived to our village from our past ally, Uzu. On her journey, her village was destroyed in a joint assault by Kumo and Kiri. She was one of the few remaining members of their most prominent of clans, the Uzumaki. She was also the newly conceived jinchuriki of the Kyubi. We were also in the midst of a war with Suna at the time. With all this in mind, I made the mistake of conceding to Danzo's request of turning her into a weapon, by training all the emotion out of her, to be directed against our enemy. You should know now that they had found similar success with such an attempt with their defensive weapon of the Ichibi's jinchuriki. I sacrificed her humanity in the hopes of saving numerous shinobi. Her sacrifice, however, was in vein. Rather force away her emotions, Danzo broke her mind. She began to furiously attack any who have even slightly higher than civilian chakra levels. We were forced to detain her. We could not kill her, as we have no means of sealing the Kyubi after it reforms free years from her eventual demise (as had happened with the prior Kyubi Jinchuriki, before Uzu managed to seal it away). Our sealing experts could barely create a seal capable of containing the Hachibi, at the time. And so, instead, we have sealed away her mind and her abilities. At this moment, she is locked in a cavern underneath the monument in stasis seals, still at the age of thirteen."

"You mean to tell me that at this moment a devastating threat to our village is held back by mere seals, and stored right beside the unknowing populace?" Minato replied, agitated by this revelation.

"Yes, and there she must remain until a suitable alternate vessel for the Kyubi is devised. After this point, I would recommend you release the poor child from the miserable existence that is her life."

"I see. It's been a long night. If you have nothing left to reveal, you're dismissed." The stress of the night was clear on his voice and his face, so Hiruzen took little offense to the dismissal.

"Very well Hokage-sama."

~

Time passed, as Minato adjusted to the roles and responsibilities of Hokage. In what little spare time he had, he attempted to solve the dilemmas that had been presented to him that night to mild success. While he had occasional successes, some problems persisted, and other problems would often arise. The fate of the young Uzumaki girl beared heavily on his mind, but he could find few solutions to transferring the Kyubi. In all his efforts, he found but one seal that had hopes of even containing the Kyubi, and that would require his death and an infant to put the beast within. He felt weary with this knowledge, and his brain continually brought the problem to his mind. This seemed a premonition of things to come, from Minato's perspective. And he wasn't wrong.

At three in the morning, somewhere in the midst of his third year as Hokage, he was awoken as a security seal on her stasis chamber was tripped. He dressed urgently, and activated his Hiraishin technique to take him there immediately. Upon arrival, he found himself facing a man. This man had dark hair and wore nearly all black. Aside from his orange mask, which had a single opening swirled around his right eye.

"I don't suppose you would be willing to explain the nature of your break in?" Minato began, taking in his potential opponent.

"Actually, I'll happily share. I have much hatred for this village. It has wronged me on numerous occasions. I'm here for vengeance. This child too has been a victim of Konoha, and it is through her that I will take my revenge. I shall take her to the village entrance, release the beast within, and kill her. You will not be able to stop me. Why? Because this discussion is not real and my work already done."

The genjutsu holding Minato broke at this moment, and he vaguely heard a commotion in the distance.

"Shit." And with that word, Minato's shadow clone dispersed.

In the village proper, destruction reigned. Just prior to his shadow clone moving to the chamber, Minato had moved to his home office and initiated emergency protocol nine. Sirens went off and shinobi groggily awoke to begin taking defensive positions and evacuating civilians to numerous shelters based away from both the Hokage monument and the main entrance of the village. This early movement would save many lives, but be insufficient to prepare the village for the destruction to come. Roughly halfway through the evacuation, a scream was heard near the main entrance.

The masked man dodged the vicious assault of the newly released child. Uzumaki Kushina saw red, as she sensed the energy of her opposition and attacked with a roar. Her assault was brought to a quick end, however, as a genjustu took effect, holding her in place. The man tore the shirt off her thin body, as she stood in a daze. He pressed his hand into her stomach, releasing a steady stream of chakra to reveal the seal upon her. With that he drew a new seal on top of the original, and vanished. Kushina collapsed as a dark and ominous energy began to rush out of her body. The pain was horrific, and within moments, she died.

Unbeknownst to the masked man, now fleeing with the intent to return in days to observe the fruits of his efforts, her early death would come to haunt in the decades to come. As Kushina died, only half of the Kyubi's chakra and its consciousness had been released. The remaining chakra would cease to exist, as her soul vanished to the afterlife. And thus the Kyubi, dazed from its sudden release and with only half of its usual power, roared as released its anger upon its surroundings. An entire sector of the village was destroyed, and hundreds died, both shinobi and civilian alike. Had it simply fled, it would have continuously regenerated strength. Within a year, it would have been at full power once more and beyond the sealing means of any that yet survived in the shinobi world. A natural disaster, which might strike at any moment. Instead, at half strength, it was just weak enough to be sealed by the Yondaime Hokage.

Horrified by the destruction and loss of life, Minato rapidly concluded his only option was the seal he happened upon in his efforts to find a way to transfer the Kyubi, though he wasn't certain it would work. He utilized the Hriashin again to go to his preplaced seal at the hospital. He moved quickly to the nursery, and saw numerous panicked mothers and children. One child, held in the hands of a nurse, was without a mother. Hating himself for it, he took the child from the nurse and teleported to the destroyed main entrance to the village. He found himself directly behind the massive creature. He began the technique to seal the creature within the child.

As his efforts neared end, a dark force appeared above him.

"What is it, mortal, you dare request from me?"

"Shinigami-sama, I request that you seal this malevolent beast within the holding chamber I have provided upon this child." Minato held the shrieking baby above his head to the god above him. The Kyubi had frozen in place, sensing the force of something even greater than itself.

"And what will you give to me, in exchange?"

"What must I give?"

"Your soul."

"I must accept." Minato replied, terrified, but resolute at what must be done.

"The bargain is struck, and so I act."

*Flash*

A bright flash of light blinded all of those yet outside and alive within the village. When their sight was restored, the demon destroying their village was gone. And so too, was their beloved Hokage.

~

In the aftermath of the attack, Sarutobi Hiruzen reluctantly retook his position as Hokage. He directed the village in its recovery. And to the newborn with the seal clearly upon its belly, he offered regret. The village already knew what the child was (as the various shinobi whom found the baby, seal showing, within the dead arms of their leader had realized and announced), and many were demanding his sacrifice in exchange for the loss of family friends in the attack. Hiruzen rejected these claims. While he refused to make the same mistake as before, despite Danzo's arguments that it would be different this time, he could do nothing to stop the hatred the people felt. He looked upon the child with pity.

It had been identified, weeks later, as the son of unknown woman whom had appeared, dirty and sick, only weeks before the attack. While in the hospital, she had read a book by one of previous students. As she gave birth, she had listed the name of the main character for the child, before passing without saying more. And so Nanashi Naruto was born. As the only act of kindness he could offer, Hiruzen declared that young Naruto's status as jinchuriki would remain a secret, the relevation of which held the punishment of death. He made this decision with the hope that it would make the child's interactions with youth, if not adults, easier. And to an extent it would, though only a minimal one.

As the years passed, the child would be looked at with hatred. While he would receive no physical abuse, he would be poorly nourished, poorly care for, and have effectively no emotional support. The Hokage, while sympathetic to the child's condition, had not the time nor effort to check on the child other than occasional ordered supervision. He held other priorities. And so the child would grow up, alone and emotionally stunted. He learned to survive with minimal help and interaction with others. At the age of seven, like most orphans, he applied for the pre-academy physical. If found capable of generating sufficient chakra and without disability, he would be enrolled, moved to the students barracks, and provided a small stipend. While this amount would be small to most, meant to equalize any enrollees with hopes of joining the ninja forces, it would leave the orphans far wealthier than otherwise.

The academy was a five-year boarding school on the outskirts of the village. All students would leave their families, with various holiday breaks, and train on equal footing with one another. This program had been implemented early on by the Yondaime Hokage, with the intent of breaking away the divisions between the students. By the time they graduated, they would all be shinobi on equal footing. Those coming from shinobi clans would then begin to learn the techniques of their clans from the elders within the shinobi population, while continuing their general education with their peers. Orphans and those from other families would be granted access to the general shinobi training resources, an accumulation of techniques and methods developed and gathered by non-clan shinobi so as to provide a balance against the secret techniques of the clan shinobi.

The training program at the academy is highly structured to ensure that graduating students would be at least on the level of average genin from other villages. The program was overseen by a rotating group reporting directly to the Hokage to ensure adequate and even training of the students enrolled. Young Naruto hoped that if he might succeed in enrolling, he could escape the harsh treatment that he was targeted with by the majority of those he interacted with. Adults seemed to hate him almost unanimously, whereas children stayed away from him (due to warnings by observations of the adults). He hoped that it would be different, in the academy. And to an extent, he was correct.


End file.
